Where The Magic Happens
by Promise10
Summary: If a Dark Lord with eons of experience attacks you, maybe what you need is an extraterrestrial ally. When Ben Tennyson arrives and saves Harry from Voldemort in the graveyard, the magical world is shocked. Now, with Ben's help, can Harry become the Hero he was meant to be? AU
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: If a Dark Lord with eons of experience attacks you, maybe what you need is an extraterrestrial ally. When Ben Tennyson arrives and saves Harry from Voldemort in the graveyard, the magical world is shocked. Now, with Ben's help, can Harry become the Hero he was meant to be? AU.**

Violent orbs of purple magic flew through the air to impact in a magenta shield. The silver haired enchantress was tired, but was trying not to show it.

"Seriously, Charmcaster, is this the best that you can do? You have gotten sloppier since our last meeting." Taunted Gwen, the anodite cousin of Ben Tennyson, who was the wielder of the Omnitrix.

"You had us at a disadvantage. Nice job getting me to use up my battery during the brawl with your golems and sending Kevin away on a false call. But you should have remembered that my cousin is much stronger than you in magic before engaging in this duel." Came the calm voice of the black haired teen, Ben Tennyson.

Charmcaster was already angry, but this pushed her over the age. This wasn't fair. She was an inhabitant of Ledgerdomain, the realm of magic, and had practiced all her life to be a great enchantress, when this upstart part-alien had outclassed her without any difficulty or practice. With a sinister smile, she attempted the same spell her father Spellbinder had used to send her to Earth: "**Dimento Portus Eratico**".

Gwen's eyes widened as she realised what the spell could do. She instantly manifested a shield around herself, but was shocked to realize she wasn't the target, but rather...Ben was. Before she could do anything, Ben Tennyson disappeared through the portal into an unknown world.

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"Why does this always happen to me?" whined Ben as he took in his surroundings. He was in a graveyard of sorts. However, there were voices coming from distance. Hoping to understand where he was at, Ben tiptoed towards the clearing. However, what he saw there instantly warned him something was very wrong.

He watched as a rat-like man draw some blood from a teen tied to a gravestone and drop it into a boiling cauldron, summoning his master from death. A man rose up with snake-like nostrils and red eyes. He conjured a silver hand for his servant and somehow summoned his other followers there. Ben was impressed by their teleportation. Suddenly, with a clicking noise, the Omnitrix faceplate turned green, showing that it was ready to go.

"Finally. What took you so long?" exclaimed Ben.

"_Reboot was delayed due to a change in dimensions and due to the area being saturated with excessive magic._" Came the robotic reply from the alien watch.

Ben was shocked. So he had crossed dimensions...well, Gwen had gotten him out of Null Void earlier, so the situation couldn't be too bad, could it be?

He was suddenly forced to look up due to a horrific scream. The youth was rolling on the ground with agony while the onlookers were laughing. Ben clenched his fists. He didn't know what was going on, but it was very wrong. He realised that the teen had somehow destroyed the man with his magic earlier and the man now wanted to avenge his defeat. He learned that the man was someone called "The Dark Lord Voldemort" and was like this dimension's Vilgax from his rant. Ben was impressed when the teen was challenged to a fight to death and he stood defiant with his wand raised; the boy's posture stated that if he was going down, he would go down fighting. Ben raised the faceplate of the Omnitrix; it was Hero Time.

A green light suddenly filled the entire surrounding area. Instinctively, all the assembled death eaters covered their eyes and ducked, but Harry stood with his eyes locked on Voldemort. This light had brought him only sorrows earlier; could this time be different?

"_Big Chill_!" exclaimed the moth-like blue alien as he stretched his wings. Immediately the people started chattering their teeth as his cryokinetic abilities chilled the area, not sinisterly like dementors, but with the same effect. "You people are all going up against one kid. How is it fair? Try taking on someone like me." With a gust of his freeze breath, two death eaters changed into a lump of ice.

"Attack!" Ordered Voldemort, with his own wand pointed. Several cries of "**Reducto**" and "**Incarcerous**" were heard. Big Chill just smirked as he turned intangible and the spells flew harmlessly through him. The death eaters were shocked: How can this be possible?

"It's a ghost!" Someone suddenly screamed.

"No, I am much too handsome to die so easily. However, I have a magic trick for you: Now you see me, now you don't." The alien turned invisible at will and phased through the rank of death eaters. Before they could realise what was going on, they started to turn into icy statues.

Voldemort sneered. Invisibility was no defence against a wizard of his calibre. He indicated Jugson to engage Potter for the time being and tried to locate this new threat. It was easy to locate his energy. The heat lines left by him, however were blue rather than yellow. Voldemort raised his yew wand and screamed, "**Avada Kedavra**".

Big Chill noticed the green death spell flying towards him and instinctively realised this wasn't something he could dodge or let it pass through him; his plasma state made it so that there were extremely few molecules of his body in an unit area and that was enough to bind his sentience to his body, while not allowing his body to feel any pain due to damage to just those few cells. However, he was loath to let this spell touch any part of his body. With precision, he instantly phased through the ground as the spell passed harmlessly above him.

Voldemort snarled at his missed spell and uttered a blasting curse to draw out his underground enemy. Before it had even hit, the ground shattered as Big Chill rose up in a large shard of ice that his spell just chipped at.

"What now, Voldemort? Think you can break this? Or do you have cold feet?" Big Chill taunted in his obvious ice-pun.

Voldemort was shocked; this creature spoke about him without any fear? This couldn't stand. With "**Incendio Solem**", the ice shard was blasted by a fire with the sun's force. Big Chill immediately flew up and thanked his heat resistance, enough to survive the heat of lave, which certainly was unusual for an ice alien. As he blew another gust of ice wind, Voldemort countered it with a blast of warm air and fired an overpowered cannon blast charm. The sound stunned Big Chill as he lost focus for once. That was enough for the Dark Lord as he fired a flesh eating curse at Big Chill. It clipped him in the shoulder as Big Chill dropped to the ground in pain and reverted to normal.

Voldemort looked at Ben, shocked: Another fifteen year old kid had tried to stand against him and almost taken out his whole team? Before he could fire another curse and finish him, suddenly he grunted in pain as a reductor curse struck him in his back. If not for his newly created body which was a construct of pure magic and had much more resistance to spells, it would have seriously hurt him. He spun around to see the Boy-Who-Lived in front of him, brandishing his wand, his green eyes blazing. Jugson was sprawled on the ground, obviously stunned. Voldemort was impressed, but decided to end this quick. With a simple motion, he summoned a grave stone in front of an incoming stunner and led the vines on the ground crawl up and securely bind Harry Potter. Voldemort smirked triumphantly: Now, it was the time for the Boy-Who-Lived to die. He uttered his favourite spell again as the green light raced towards Harry.

Another green flash diverted his attention as he cursed himself for leaving his other opponent alone. Ben had used the opportunity and slammed his hand on the Omnitrix again, hoping for Echo Echo. However, typically, the Omnitrix suffered from an accidental transformation.

"_Jet Ray_!" The manta-ray like aerophibian shouted out his identity and took to the air in a speed unseen by human eyes. It was a race between the spell and Jet Ray, which he won with ease and pulled Ben to the air in the blink of an eye, just before the spell killed the vines that were holding Harry captive.

"Who are you?" asked Harry, curious. He had no hope of survival today before this stranger had arrived and engaged Voldemort for quite some time and taken out the other death eaters were surprising ease. Understandably, he was curious.

"No time to explain." Jet Ray quipped, as he dodged the incoming spells with his natural agility. "I am not used to flying with passengers, and they are breaking out of their ice prison." It was true. More and more wands were joining the battle, with Voldemort leading them on. It was only a matter of time before they would be hit. "We got to get out of here. Any ideas?" Jet Ray asked, hopefully.

Harry nodded, "The Triwizard Cup was a portkey. It brought me here. If I can summon it to me, we might be able to return to safety, but I would need a little cover."

Ben didn't understand half of what Harry was speaking, but he nodded, "Okay, on the count of three." Before Harry could agree, Ben shouted, "Three!" and let go of Harry in a freefall. He scrunched up his eyes and his tail lit up in a green glow. "Okay, suckers...take this." With the energy blast that could propel him through space faster than a rocked engine, Jet Ray instantly destroyed a good area of the ground and most of them were thrown to the earth by the force of the blast, Voldemort included. As the dust covered the area, Jet Ray flew downwards in a fluid motion and caught Harry. "Now!" He screamed.

As Harry was in freefall, he realised something; this guy was absolutely nuts and was at least as crazy as he was and secondly, this was WAY better than quidditch. However, he focussed on his magic as Jet Ray caught him and screamed, "Accio Cup." As they took hold of their trophy, they disappeared from the graveyard, leaving a team of very dusty and scorched death eaters behind.

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As the two teens (Ben had somehow reverted back to normal during the course of the journey) landed on Hogwarts grounds, a great cheer went from the crowds. Cedric was in the forefront as he shouted, "He is back. Headmaster, thank goodness that he his back." Instantly, a bushy haired girl tore from among the crowds and embraced Harry in a bone crushing hug, probably not even noticing Ben. He was amused at her reaction and thought in his mind, "Harry's cousin? Nah, couldn't be...His girlfriend? Probably".

"Who are you?" Came the enquiry from another voice. Ben looked up to see an old man with an extremely long beard and half-moon spectacles enquiring him. "I am Ben Tennyson from Bellwood, in USA." Ben hoped that at least there was a USA in this dimension.

"American? How are..." Dumbledore's quarry was interrupted by Hermione's scream , "Professor Dumbledore. Harry...Harry just lost consciousness...He isn't responding."

Instantly Ben smacked himself. How could he be so stupid? "He needs some medical aid. He was put under some kind of spell what caused him, from his body language, unimaginable pain. Something like 'Crucio'".

Ben saw the horrified looks on everyone's eyes, specially the girl's who cradled Harry's head in her lap and muttered, "Oh, Harry, why does this happen to only you?" Instantly there was a great hustle-bustle as Harry was levitated into a stretcher and taken inside the castle. Dumbledore excused himself and told someone named "Professor Moody" to handle his interrogation. With his signal, Ben marched into the castle and shrugged to himself: This was a very weird day, even by his standards. He travelled through dimensions, entered a world where no one knew him, met people who could do magic as easily as Gwen or Charmcaster, saved a teen Hero like himself (why can't adults be Heroes?) from death and was now going to be interrogated himself. Everything was just peachy.

Even if his interrogator lacked an eye and a leg.

**A/N: This is something I wanted to do for a very long time. To make clear about the timeline: This is in Alien Force, and initially only the original 10 aliens of aliens of Alien Force are going to be used (well, maybe not Alien X). Gwen or Kevin will not feature largely, but some other Ben 10 characters will play some part. For the HP universe, Cedric didn't take the portkey alongside Harry; there were no near death situations where they saved each other...Harry just beat Cedric, but he watched him take the Cup and disappear. Oh, and Luna became a friend during this year in my story, and not in year five.**

**So, now review and tell me how I did.**


	2. Inside Man

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Ben 10 universe. If I did, Gwen and Kevin would have been present during Omniverse. As for the Harry Potter universe... let's just say that I'm not a billionaire and leave it at that, eh?**

"So, tell me lad: Who are you? How did you arrive here all of a sudden? And how did you get Potter to safety from the clutches of the Dark Lord?" Mad-Eye Moody asked, looking intently at Ben.

"Well, as I said, my name is Ben Tennyson. The next part is going to sound crazy, but I am not of this world...rather, not of this whole dimension," Ben was assured that Moody wasn't looking at him like he was crazy...yet. "I have this gadget, called Omnitrix, stuck to my wrist and bonded with my DNA. With it..." Ben was interrupted when Moody asked, "What is this DNA?"

Ben gaped at the man in astonishment, "You don't know about DNA? The double-helix, nucleotide, stuff like that?" Seeing that the answer was negative, Ben sighed, "That isn't very important, however. With it's power, I can turn into aliens, extraterrestrial beings, if you will. With that," suddenly Ben paused as a stray thought came to his mind. Jumping back, he shouted, "Wait a moment. How did you know the person who attacked Harry? I never said his name."

Instantly a change in demeanour was observable in the other man. With surprisingly quick reflexes, he jumped to his feet and grinned, "Well, looks like you found me out, kid. Bad for you. I wasn't going to do this, but it is necessary.** Imperio**." Ben had no time to react before the spell washed over him.

_It was the most wonderful feeling. Ben felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in his head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. He stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of the other person watching him._

"Remove the watch." Came a fleeting voice. Yes, he would do that, wouldn't he? Why not? But he didn't know how to. It was unremovable, wasn't it? Yes, he would inform him about that.

"Unremovable? Huh." Crouch Junior scoffed, now in his real form as the Polyjuice had lost it's effectiveness. "Let's try this...**Diffindo**." He aimed at the wristbands of the Omnitrix, hoping to sever it out of the bonds. That was a big mistake. Before he could even realize it, the Omnitrix delivered a feedback pulse that easily deflected back the spell with much more intensity and took out a mantel piece in the room. What was better was that Ben regained his senses due to the sudden jolt. Without looking, he slammed his hand on the Omnitrix as a green light engulfed him again, leaving Jet Ray in his place.

"**Imperio**." Crouch Jr. tried again. Jet Ray could have dodged it easily, but he grinned and let it hit him. Crouch Jr. Was dismayed to realize the unforgivable had no effect on his opponent this time.

"Tsk, Tsk. Your attempt at mind control was good, but that is nothing compared what Ghostfreak can do when he gets his way." Dodging two more spells, Jet Ray quipped, "My turn." He let loose anther neuroshock blast which destroyed the shield of Crouch Junior and blasted him across the room. The dampening effect of this neuroshock blast on the nervous system was immediately visible as Crouch Jr. Visibly slumped and barely dodged his next blast. Hoping to buy some time, he disillusioned himself and placed himself behind a couch, drawing large breaths.

Jet Ray scanned wildly around for the unseen opponent, missing Gwen wildly. For her, tracking the energy of this man would have been child's play. Jet Ray shrugged and started shooting wildly, criss-crossing his attacks and flying at wild speeds, hoping to get in a lucky shot.

Crouch Jr. Was immediately concerned as the some of the beams narrowly missed him. He decided on trying a trick and casting a mirror charm on himself, came back into sight. Jet Ray blasted the area where he was at, causing him to duck right as his mirror image ducked left. Jet Ray was confused at this turn of events and thought, "That's so much like what I used to do as Ditto." As his blasts repeated itself and increased in frequency, the mirror images started increasing, leading him to believe that his blasts were causing his opponent to multiply. Although Jet Ray got a few images with his blasts, they simply shimmered out of existence and Jet Ray was caught in a swarm as spells flew towards him, while he couldn't discern which was real and which one was virtual. Taking use of his preoccupied state, the real Crouch Jr. Tiptoed towards him and blasted Jet Ray with fire...well, tried to. Jet Ray instinctively dodged it and was on him in a moment, but that was what Crouch Jr. Needed now. As Jet Ray shot the laser again, the illusions disappeared and a large crystal manifested itself in air, crackling with magic. As per the laws of refraction, it shot back towards Jet Ray and the Aerophibian succumbed to his own paralysing blast.

"Ah, how satisfying." drawled Crouch Jr. "How the mighty fall. You got powers, kid, but no experience of a wizarding battle. I can't fathom how you managed to get the better of my Lord, but that's no matter. I will take you to him, and if you cooperate, who knows, you might even be allowed to live past tonight." He had visions of Voldemort proclaiming him as his most trusted servant as he raised his wand to stun Ben, when...

"Are you going to hurt him?" came a curious voice from the doorway.

Crouch Jr. was going to say, "Of course" when the alarm bells in his brain rang. He spun around to see a girl with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and dreamy, blue eyes that seemed oddly distracted, greeting him. "Are you going to? It will be sensational news. Oh, I must tell Daddy about this." Luna clapped her hands happily.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Crouch Jr. asked, his mind spinning. He had locked the door...hadn't he?

"Professor, you don't recognise me? I was in your third year DADA class all this time. Maybe the wrackspurts are affecting your memory. Without that, you would have remembered that the doors of Hogwarts' Professor's quarters are always open to students. " Luna pouted, then suddenly became serious, "Oh, I get it. You aren't Professor Moody, are you? You are a very bad man, and you must be punished."

"And who's going to do that? You?" Crouch Jr. laughed.

"No. He will." Luna smiled as Crouch Jr. remembered that he had a dangerous opponent behind him...but it was too late. Jet Ray's energy blast caught him in the shoulder and knocked him down on the hard stone floor, making him unconscious. A medi-wizard who later examined him exclaimed, "Fascinating. He seems to be hit by both a stunner and a petrifying spell, but I can't trace any of their signatures."

Jet Ray was really thankful to the girl who had given him the time needed to regain his bearings. "Who are you?" He enquired in a curious voice.

"My name is Luna Lovegood. I am a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I am very crazy. I have a nickname, 'Loony', and I am always bullied." Luna said in her typical airy-fairy voice. Ben was going to protest against this statement, before her dreamy eyes suddenly metamorphosed to blue orbs sparkling with intelligence, "and that's how everyone in this castle knows and treats me." She smiled, but it seemed to Ben that it held an underlying sorrow.

"And you aren't how you appear?" Ben half-asked.

"To know the answer, you must meet the night queen in the prohibited woods with he who is favoured with valour." Luna giggled, and the intelligence in her eyes disappeared faster than you could imagine, "Oh look at the time. It is time for my daily snorkack hunt." As Luna pulled some kind of transparent material over her, Ben gaped as she immediately disappeared from view. As he heard her retreating footsteps out of the door, he joked, "and I don't suppose I could get to see the real Luna anytime sooner than I figure out that riddle?"

"Not unless you could bring a man-eating kangaroo to release her from her prison." The voice fired back. Ben smiled; it seemed that he had at least met someone in this world who led a double life like his own. He could sense a great enigma about her, a great mystery and someone who could become a real friend. However, before he could dwell much on that matter, the door (which had closed just after Luna went out) blew up on it's hinges as Dumbledore came in with his wand raised. A bat-like man with greasy hair and an uptight lady, greatly resembling Ben's Physics teacher, followed him. Immediately their eyes were drawn towards Ben who held up in his hands in the universal "no threat" gesture and slapped the Omnitrix icon on his chest. The teachers looked away as Ben reverted to normal.

"That was you?" exclaimed McGonagall. "That must be a very taxing animagus transformation", she babbled, unable to conceal her excitement.

"As impressive as it must be," Snape's voice came in a monotone, "There are far more interesting matters. Headmaster, look at him." Now the eyes rested on Crouch Jr. as they all seemed shocked. Immediately, something called Veritaserum was ordered and the man revealed how Harry Potter had been manipulated throughout the Tournament, had been helped along, all due to the Dark Lord's plan of returning to body using his blood. He revealed how he had tricked everyone, with his mother's help, and led them to believe that he was dead all this time. After some more questions and answers, Dumbledore stunned the man again for good measure and left McGonagall to guard him. He instructed the other man to embark on a mission to gather inside information (Ben understood that he was some kind of a spy, but was really disappointed by his looks. Seriously, he had no sense of style). He nodded and went about on his way. Then, finally Dumbledore turned to Ben.

"Why don't you go over your story again, Mr. Tennyson, and this time let me be the one to hear it?" Dumbledore suggested in a jovial tone. Ben stated his tale, again, and was re-shocked to realize that yes, the concept of DNA was foreign to even this man.

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"So, you are saying that you have these special abilities to shape shift into otherworldly beings? Fascinating." Dumbledore chuckled behind his beard, and said, "Do you mind if a do a little test on you to check if aren't a merely very accomplished Animagi and are just having me on?"

"Sure. Hit me," shrugged Ben, before his curiosity piped up, "What exactly is an Animagi?"

"Not what, Who. An animagi is a wizard or witch who can turn into an animal. It is a tough process and requires severe mental discipline." Finishing his examinations, Dumbledore muttered, "Curious. You certainly don't possess enough magic in your body to be an animagi (Ben's 'told you so' look was ignored by him), but you certainly possess enough to pass off as a low powered wizard. How is this possible?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? My sister is also a magician, and she inherited those abilities from our Grandmother Verdona, an alien belonging to the species known as Anodite. They have the ability to manipulate the life energy, or Mana in every being to create magic; for example, I have seen her walk on water, fly at supersonic speeds, create energy blasts and repair my cousin's house with a flick of her finger. I guess I might have inherited some of her abilities, but they were dormant due to my human nature and the lack of magic in my own home dimension...but here, in this environment, they might be expressing. So, I wouldn't read too much into that." Ben finished eloquently.

"May I have a look at some members of your family...their pictures, or anything you might have on your being, to see if I can find any link of them to our world?"

Ben felt around his pocket for any pictures; nope, nothing there. Wait a second...yes, he had that same Mana flower that Grandma Verdona had given to them at the end of her first visit. Taking it from his pocket, Ben proffered it to Dumbledore who, after waving his wand over it, suddenly exclaimed, "Sweet Merlin. These are the flowers of Morgana."

"Morgana? You mean like that witch in silly Arthurian legends?"

Dumbledore looked at Ben severely, "This is no joking matter Mr. Tennyson. In your world, she might be a legend but I assure you, she is very real to us. She was the greatest adversary of Merlin, the greatest wizard to have ever lived and is like the evilest enchantress this world has ever seen. She used to mark her conquests with a kind of flower that could never be uprooted and glowed forever with a purple light...specifically, this kind of flowers." Here, Dumbledore paused a little, "Some say that she was so terrible that people feared to portray her...but I have a picture anyway. There." Following his finger, Ben's eyes came to rest on a portrait which seemed very familiar; wait a minute! It actually was very familiar. Ben remembered Grandpa Max once showing it to him and remarking: "Meet Crysha-Fen, one of the strongest anodites the world has ever seen. She could do things no one could. Without your Grandmother's help, the Plumber's would never have been able to banish her to another world and trap her there." Ben now made the connection and instantly started laughing. He chuckled, "Oh grandma, now I see why you beat me at our first match". Seeing that Dumbledore was looking funnily at him, he sobered up and told his tale, causing Dumbledore's eyebrows to shot up: he was the grandson of a witch who fought off Morgan Le Fay? What more strangeness was left to see?

"Well, so what are your current objectives?" Dumbledore asked, watching him curiously. He could be a very valuable asset...

Ben shrugged, "Nothing much. I was just planning on staying here for a short period of time until my friends can get me out of here. The Plumber's have sufficient technology, and I know Gwen can track my energy in other dimensions too. So, I got nothing to worry about."

"I am afraid, Mr. Tennyson, that leaving this world might not be too easy."

Ben bristled at this comment and was going to ask why, when suddenly Dumbledore said, "Wait. I think we are going to have visitors." Right on cue, the door opened as a woman in a healer's outfit walked in anxiously.

"Ah, Poppy," Dumbledore greeted her cordially, "What is the matter? I trust everything is alright with Mr. Potter."

Poppy Pomfrey bit her lips. "No...no, Headmaster. Everything is not alright with the poor boy. If you will come with me, you can see it for yourself." Both Ben and Dumbledore got up at this announcement and followed the matron to the Hospital Wing.

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"You see? That's what is happening to him. Nothing I have tried is working on him, Headmaster. I tried to stun him, petrify him; he just keeps breaking through my spells. Calming draughts are not having any effect and any heavier dose can permanently incapitate him." Madam Pomfrey shrugged helplessly.

The situation looked bad enough, Ben presumed. Harry was rolling on the Hospital bed, as if fighting an unseen opponent. He just kept saying, "No...not you again", "I won't let you do this" and other words as if in a trance. He was sweating profusely and his shirt was soaked to his body. His heartbeat was off the charts and the medical diagnoses on him were returning improbable results. The magic rolling out of him was astounding; even Ben could feel it, as could every magical in the room. The worst part seemed to be however that the lightning bolt scar on Harry's head was an angry red and a hissing sound seemed to emanate from it. Moreover, as it was evident, Harry was losing the unknown fight; while his shaking limbs were slowing down, the redness in the scar seemed to be spreading in Harry's body; he was looking like a possessed man, as arcane light flashed about him.

Dumbledore steadied his aim and incanted, **"Stupefy**." It was totally ineffective as a silver shield sprung around Harry's body and reflected it right back at them. As all the people who were assembled, ducked, Dumbledore was shocked and thought to himself, "That was one of my strongest stunners. How did Harry deflect it with such ease?"

Madam Pomfrey, meanwhile was busy taking his readings and had a look of resignation on her face. She shook her head softly, "It is of no use. Some kind of foreign host is preying on Mr. Potter's magic and using his body as host. The source seems to be his curse scar. If it can't be stopped, the boy will be lost."

Dumbledore was alarmed at this. No, this couldn't happen. He had taken too many hard and vilifying decisions to prevent just this. Was it time for the ultimate sacrifice? He gripped his wand tightly, but before he could do anything, the Omnitrix spoke up, "_Grave damage in DNA found_." A green beam shot out of it and seemed to scan Harry before focussing on his head. "_Subject superimposed with foreign genetic material and energy signatures that closely resemble Ectonurite and Anodite energy. Foreign DNA trying to remould host DNA and host mind. Shall we attempt to correct it?"_

"Correct Harry? Yes, let's do it." With this assent, Ben placed the Omnitrix right next to Harry's forehead.

"What are you doing?" asked Dumbledore, curiously. It seems that my actions won't be necessary, after all, he thought to himself, if the prophecy is put to motion.

"Trust me, I'll tell you as soon as I figure it out." Ben retorted with the same reply he had used before trying to heal his brother, Ken of his DNAlien (Xenocyte) infection. The scar flashed red again, but it was eclipsed by the green glow of the Omnitrix as Ben Tennyson was pulled into the mindscape of Harry Potter.

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"Whoa. No matter if I have viewed this before; it is looking even more amazing this time." Ben muttered as he flew through the green interior of the Omnitrix and landed softly on a dark place. He didn't have to be a genius to figure out that it was Harry's mindscape; but it was in a desolate condition. It was as if Harry had lost all force of will to live. Suddenly, alarming Ben, a red light started spreading rapidly through the area as Harry's mind was being consumed. However, before it could progress further, a green shield sprung up to stop it's flow. It hissed and lashed out, but couldn't break the shields.

Suddenly, the Omnitrix's voice spoke out again: "_Too high concentration of anodite energy to correct the errors in the genetic code. Active support of host body required_."

A voice inside Ben's head, sounding oddly like Gwen's voice, translated it for him; find Harry and help him. Ben instantly was on the run as crossed the myriad of criss-crossing light and shadows. The Omnitrix pointed him in the right direction; The darkness was near, yet far. The walls seemed ready to crush him one moment and the next, they gaped wide open. His progress was being blocked at every turn; but he had to do it. With a final heave of effort, Ben hoisted himself upwards a hill which Harry had built in his mind to save himself from the darkness below and stood, panting. However, what he saw there wasn't what he expected. He expected to see a warrior, the same brave boy he had seen standing up to evil and the boy he had felt a haunting familiarity with, but what he found was a broken kid; a boy who was kneeling down and whimpering, as if cold, but there was no chills in the air. Ben didn't know what was wrong, but he was going to find out. Kneeling down, hhe tentatively put his hands on Harry's shoulders and shook him, "Harry...Harry? Do you hear me? Come on, look up." Suddenly, he saw a familiarly haunting look in Harry's eye which he had wore while he thought Grandpa Max had died.

"Why?" Asked Harry softly, "nobody wants me alive in this world".

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The situation in Harry's mind was a unique one, to say the least. He had been carrying a soul fragment of Lord Voldemort in his mind since he was born, but the sacrifice of his mother had given him a loving protection it couldn't hope to breach. However, over the years it had been weakened by the intense hate the Dursley's felt for him, and he never developing any attachment to them. Add that with his face-off with Quirell in the first year; it had almost nullified the power of the protection by using it up. Now, when Voldemort had returned to body using Harry's blood, the connection between them ran far deeper than before. And, Voldemort had been connected to Harry's mind for a while; trying to impose the Imperious Curse on him...it had re-strengthened the connection. The Horcrux was now in the forefront of Harry's mind; the soul anchor was trying to be free of it's bonds, and trying to take over the body it inhabited. So, Harry Potter found himself locked in a battle to save his soul from the very twisted soul of Tom Riddle. The battle situation was somewhat in Voldemort's favour: after all, he had years of experience in possessing people, was a very skilled legilimens and Harry was just recovering from repeated exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. Moreover, the Dursley's had never taught him to stand on his own feet or given him any thing to fight for; the magical world was equally guilty in this aspect. He had heard about his parents; how brave they were, and all that, but he had never found out much about them to develop a very strong attachment. Briefly put, Harry had nothing really worth fighting for.

However, one thing must be taken into consideration; the advantage Harry had was that this body belonged to HIM, and the magic obeyed HIM as well! Moreover, the leech in his mind wasn't the whole soul of the Dark Lord; only a part of it. It had also been weakened over the years, receiving no exposure to healthy magic, but a protection that was a poison to him. It had gone dormant to just save himself from that. Now, suddenly returning to surface, it too had a tough battle to wage. It also didn't know that Harry at least had something to fight for; the memory of his friends. Harry tried to match the fire pouring through his body by remembering them and their times together; how they had laughed and played, and made great plans together. The battle slowly seemed to come to a stalemate.

However, Voldemort was a cunning bastard. He had no ethics or morals, nothing to hold him back. He started attacking the weakest portions of Harry's mind, where he hurt the most. It gave him images of his humiliations, the agony he had suffered; it showed him visions of his friends leaving him. The whispers after the Chamber of Secrets was opened, the way Ron treated him earlier this year...these images haunted Harry's mind. Slowly, he was becoming resigned to his fate, and letting the Horcrux have a free run. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulders asking him to get up; he looked up. It was the stranger from earlier today...Ben. He gave free reign to his quarry: "Why? Nobody wants me alive in this world."

"That musn't be true. You must have someone that is waiting for you to wake up." Ben asserted.

Harry didn't know what happened to him, but he suddenly felt an anger seize him. He held up Ben by his shoulders, "You think so? Do you have any idea of my life? Look! Look for yourself." Ben was flung into a trip down Harry's memory lane as he watched his childhood in a way, and also his life. He was appalled at this, but he knew he had to do something. As he came up to surface, Harry asked him, "Why do you think I should be alive now? What do I have to live for?"

"To live." Ben also felt anger surging through his body, but he couldn't say at whom, "You never had a life. You had too many years stripped off you. If you ever want to know why, and at least enjoy the life your parents gave to you, you must fight back this leech. Destroy it, so that you receive your answers." He softened his tone, "I am not telling you to do anything; God knows I have no right to. But please, think once more; do you not have anything that you want to live for?"

Harry thought. The images of Sirius and Remus came to mind, but they faded away almost instantaneously; however, there was a face even Voldemort's machinations couldn't wipe off his mind: Her.

He remembered Hermione giving him courage to face Quirell.

He could remember her being petrified. His world had almost shattered after that.

He could remember her hugging him after he had killed the Basilisk. That was a greater reward than he could imagine.

He remembered her punching Malfoy's nose at Hogsmeade. Now, that was fun!

He could remember the pride and awe in her voice after he had conjured the patronus to drive off the dementors.

He could remember the ride on back of Buckbeak to rescue Sirius, and Hermione clutching him tightly during that time. The comforting feel in her arms was the feeling Harry wanted to re-live over and over again.

He could remember her sticking by him all the time, even when everyone had abandoned him this year.

Could he not try and live for her? Granted, there was a chance that she might not feel anything for him, but her friendship was still an elixir to him, something he couldn't let go so easily. Harry felt determination build up within him; Ben was right. His parents had tried to save him from this very creep and would he let him have free reign? Not a chance in hell! The magic swirled around in Harry's body as he re-opened his brilliant emerald orbs, and blasted back the soul fragment. The two heroes nodded at each other as they held hands and a brilliant flash of magic and Omni-energy started destroying the abomination in Harry's mind.

To this, there was an unexpected consequence. Or, perhaps this was expected: It was written in the Prophecy, that he shall be marked equal by the Dark Lord. Now, a scar on the forehead can hardly be regarded as a mark of being equal to Voldemort, but as the darkness desolved, all the memories of Tom Riddlle, his ideas and plans, all his knowledge and skills, started being absorbed into the mind of Harry Potter, finally making him an equal of Voldemort in a magical way. The war experience and the dark rituals he had used to enhance his body weren't transferred, but as Harry later remarked, "I wouldn't want my balls cut off anyway." Ben was beside him all this time, helping his mind cope with these changes. He too was treated with a crash course in the ways of the wizarding world, and finally wouldn't be surprised every two minutes. Slowly, the two boys bonded as they shared their lives with each other; their minds being connected, it was of no trouble. Harry understood the pressure Ben had on his shoulders; having the most dangerous weapon in the universe doesn't come without any responsibilities. He understood the pain Ben had felt after losing Feedback; it was like losing a part of you. The times Ben had felt scared, wanted to run away, but stood and fought were bared to him. Slowly, they become closer than brother's can, and Harry found he had something he always thought he would be denied: a brother. Finally, all knowledge of Tom Riddle was assimilated within Harry's mind.

In the real world, time passed much slowly. It was just the next afternoon when a dark mist rose from the scar of Harry before exploding with an ear-splitting screech. At this point, the glow in the Omnitrix went off, and both Harry and Ben sat up bolt upright. Both of them had only one thought in mind: _Dumbledore has a lot to answer for._

And they could tell that they most probably wouldn't like the answers.

**A/N: Well, there you go. Don't talk to me about using Feedback; Ben lost him before Alien Force, remember? As for destroying the Horcrux with the Omnitrix; that comes from the episode "Inside Man". I said Anodite and Ectonurite energy cause Omnitrix is likely to treat the Horcrux using terms it knows and since magic is used by Anodites and Ectonurites (Ghostfreak's) are the one's skilled in possession, so... Much of Harry's internal battle with the Horcrux was inspired by Perfect Lionheart's amazing fic, "Partially Kissed Hero." You should seriously go and read it: it is one of the gems found in this website.**

**Now, review and tell me what you think. Suggestions to improve my writing are always welcome, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me.**


	3. Secrets

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Harry Potter or Ben 10. Wish I did. Then I would have made many more awesome crossovers.**

**This chapter contains excerpts from "Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix".**

Dumbledore had seen many things in his long life. That experience allowed him to control both his wince and surprise when the door to his office barged inwards and a huge humanoid dinosaur barged in with Harry in tow. Thankfully, the monster was soon replaced by Mr. Tennyson, although judging from his face, he couldn't decide if that was necessarily a good thing.

"Welcome, Mr. Tennyson, Mr. Potter. Lemon drop?" He greeted them in his typical manner. However, he was surprised to see the change in Harry's eyes...as well as in his posture. Something had changed within him. He was also faintly surprised that Madam Pomfrey had let them go immediately after recovery and hadn't informed him about it. The most surprising fact, however, was that the trademark lightning-bolt scar in Harry's forehead seemed merely like a minor scratch now in the bright light. "Did you really have to break and enter? You could have knocked." He suggested.

Ben deadpanned, "I actually just knocked. You should use stronger stuff the next time." Dumbledore gaped again like a fish.

Not missing a beat, Harry spoke up, "Professor, I would like you to construct a privacy dome around the office for our following conversation."

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up, "Where did you learn about privacy domes?"

"That should not be your immediate concern, Mr. Dumbledore. I think you should be more concerned about what we want to discuss while inside it." Ben stated authoritively.

"It's about Voldemort. So, it would be in both our interest if you once accede to my request." His curiosity now mounting, Dumbledore lifted the Elder Wand and casted the magic that would isolate them from the rest of the surroundings.

Privacy domes were in use since the medieval ages. It was used generally during peace meetings between two warrior clans. Once this magic was cast, the participants were isolated and free to carry out their conversation without anyone being able to eavesdrop. They could not use magic inside the dome, nor could they physically touch each other. This way, the participants were safe from aggression and the dome only collapsed after agreements had been made.

Harry could feel the magic building up and then with a crackle, it was complete. Harry smirked and turned to Ben, "And you thought it won't be easy."

"What are you talking about?" Dumbledore cut in, curiously.

"You see Professor...sometimes people get bored when you only give them half-truths and riddles. I was getting a bit ticked off too, so I thought it is time that I get to know the complete picture. Please co-operate, like a smart person; we now have you in a completely helpless position."

Dumbledore chuckled; he decided to humour Harry, "I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Potter. Moreover, I don't like to brag, but I hardly think you can do any harm to me within a privacy sphere, or outside it."

"Uh-oh," Ben smirked, "You really don't get it, do you?" With another slamming of his hand on the Omnitrix, Brainstorm took his place and used his electrokinetic abilities to shock Dumbledore; and not too gently at that. As Dumbledore looked on, shocked (pun unintentional), Ben turned back into his normal self and smirked, "That was neither physical violence, nor magic, Professor."

"Now that we have established that," Harry said, clapping his hands, "Let's move on to something productive". Leaning forward, Harry now said in an ice-cold voice, "So, Albus...now that we have enough time, can you satisfy my curiosity as to why you left my mortal enemy in a pathetic muggle house? Take your time...it is going to be the last question you answer."

Before Dumbledore's shocked eyes, Harry's green eyes turned hateful red as it became clear to him that Harry Potter was no longer present within his body. He tried legilimency-it being a passive magic, was one of the fewest he could use and was dismayed; before a shield sprung up to block him, he found the memories of Tom Riddle in the young wizard. He suddenly felt the world crumbling in front of his eyes-he had placed Harry Potter, a true Hero, the last memory of his beloved pupils James and Lily, in an abusive environment just so that the Horcrux in his head couldn't feed on active magic and gain sentience; which would have unavoidable if he was placed anywhere within the wizarding world. He had tried, tried very hard but had never found out how to destroy the soul anchor without destroying the vessel as well. He had hoped that Harry could grow up into an outstanding wizard and since the Prophecy foretold that he was Voldemort's equal, he could find a way to remove that leech within himself by his own merit. Now it was all ruined. Voldemort had found out a way to destroy the child's mind and would surely be unstoppable now. All the fight went out from Albus' mind as his old age and past caught up with him. All the guilt he had felt over the years, his sister's demise and above all, his own treatment of Harry Potter filled him with a bitterness so strong as to be almost physical. He had no fight left in him-as he glanced at Mr. Tennyson, he found the green gauntlet had turned into a red device, and redness was now present in his iris as well. He had lost the battle...only due to his own belief that he was the one who always knew the best. He knew that he had no hope of escape, and nobody will really ever find out how to stand up to Voldemort. Lost as he was in his own thought, he never noticed Harry's eyes soften and resume their green colour.

"Professor?" He called out tentatively, "I really think we have a lot to discuss."

The old wizard received another shock; what the hell? Without even thinking, his legilimency re-branched out and scanned the wizard's surface thoughts; it now contained the memories of Harry Potter! Finally, the emotional roller coaster and the shock proved to be too much for the aged wizard as he soundly fainted.

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Harry truly was enraged as soon as he had woken up, and if he had been anything like his old self, he would have marched into Dumbledore's office and demanded an outright explanation. Anybody who was acquainted with Dumbledore knew just how productive it would be; namely, it would have been a bloody waste of time.

However, the new Harry Potter was anything but stupid. He knew he would have to figure out a plan and as he surfed through his memories, he couldn't quite believe his luck!

Tom Riddle had begun his lessons in manipulating people from a very young age, as evidenced by his framing of Hagrid and being able to escape the notice of several capable magic users. His most capable ally in this department was, however, the former Headmaster of Hogwarts: Armando Dippet. He had always liked the young wizard and he had used that trust to so many numerous effects. The most useful fact was that when he had later met Albus Dumbledore for an interview, and was rejected, he had managed to cast an enchantment on the magical portrait, which in spite of being slow acting was really potent. It had changed the loyalties of the picture from the current Headmaster of Hogwarts to Tom Riddle himself. The objective of those portraits is to guide their successors with their knowledge; in order to truly receive, the living had to lower their mental shields and let them have free reign. Slowly, Albus Dumbledore's mind had turned into something which Voldemort could have controlled with ease if he would have been able to return to the castle ever again. Fortunately, he never received the chance, and while possessing Quirell, he was too weak to exploit the possibility. Still, having an inside source of information was of immense value to Voldemort during the war, by virtue of which he had almost emerged victorious.

Harry knew how to use this to his advantage. Without breaking Dumbledore in some way, he would never volunteer any information; he was the typical dark Ravenclaw who took his secrets to the grave. He had decided to show a controlled aggression, with the help of Ben, so that the wizard is unable to infer his calm and composed state. Once inside his office, he had used the chinks in his mental shields to convince him to erect the privacy dome; truly, he never let go of any knowledge. As soon as he had gotten him off his guard and established his superiority, he knew Dumbledore was in a real disadvantage due to the changed circumstances. Finally, he went for the kill; faking possession wasn't too difficult, and he had the memories of Tom Riddle to boot. Even Ben had somehow managed to change his eye colouration. As soon as Dumbledore's legilimency probe had brushed past his mind, he had gently grasped it; seeing the memories, Dumbledore had been overwhelmed by emotions and finally Harry got a chance to get complete access to his mind. He was shocked himself; he was prepared to kill him and destroy him for his crimes, but could he really do that even after he had realised his motivations? After all, he wouldn't have been here if he had decided to kill him to destroy a part of Voldemort. He frowned, he really wasn't prepared for this. So, he let the new memories recede and called out softly, "Professor? I really think we have a lot to discuss."

He was amused on seeing that Dumbledore fainted so promptly.

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"You played a dangerous game, Harry." Dumbledore sighed, after he was briefed on everything that had happened. He then frowned, "This truly was something that Tom would have done."

"With all due respect, Professor, I thought that I was going to kill you when I first entered. You never really were a saint in these affairs, and tell me honestly; would I ever have known these things if I hadn't done what were necessary?"

"I don't suppose you would have," Dumbledore sighed, "and I can't deny that I might have deserved them. Since the cat is out of the bag, I think there is no harm in telling you about everything. I want you to reserve judgement until I have completed my demonstration. You must understand, I concealed these to save you from an even greater burden." He paused, "I gather you are acquinted with prophecies?"

Seeing him nod, he started:

_"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches_

_Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies,_

_And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not_

_And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives_

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."_

Without breaking the stride, Dumbledore recited the second one:

_"The visitor from realms unknown shall come,_

_Helping the child born in the land of Midnight Sun,_

_Measure for measure, they'll toil against the dark_

_And find help from the one who ere in shadows lurked._

_Together, a fight to death with darkness is their destiny,_

_To divide them will cause death to many._

_One in the three shall be crowned winner,_

_One is fated to vanish forever."_

Harry could feel his blood boiling as he heard the first prophecy, "So I was wrong after all. You had a very good reason to keep me alive; after all, I was the greatest weapon you required to deal with Voldemort."

Dumbledore too leaned forward as his blue eyes finally held anger, "You are very wrong, Mr. Potter. The prophecy sphere is guarded in the Department of Mysteries, and you may visit it any time to see that it's contents have turned smoky. That means, the prophecy was at least partially fulfilled. I suspect that the only reason it hadn't darkened was because that the Horcrux in your head needed to be destroyed completely before it could be fulfilled."

"The 'Neither can live while the other survives part'," Ben noted.

"Precisely. I felt that Voldemort couldn't die while you were alive, and since it has been taken care of, I have no doubt that prophecy was fulfilled and it would soon darken. I believe you already defeated Voldemort when you reflected back his killing curse towards him."

Harry muttered a sheepish, "Oh." Then he paused, "What about the second one?"

"I was never sure that it would be about you. True, it was made on the very day you were born in Norway...yes, your parents were out of country for your birth as St. Mungo's was too dangerous. However, I could never be sure until today," he paused and re-started, "With Mr. Tennyson's arrival, it has too filled with wispy smoke. This all indicates that the prophecy is in motion, too."

Both Ben and Harry summarised their feelings with the word, "Crap!"

The meeting went on long, as several interesting pieces of information were interchanged. Finally satisfied after getting a good deal made with Dumbledore, Harry stated gently, yet firmly, "Sir, I'd like you to make a magical vow to never remove these knowledge from my mind, and never obstruct me in my quest unless I myself stray from the correct path and endanger the mission. I'm sorry sir, but it will be quite a while before I can trust you again...plus, the feedback from these memories is screaming not to trust you."

He nodded, "I didn't expect anything less. Well, you should break the privacy dome now so that I can proceed and don't die instantly in a brutal fashion".

Ben chuckled, "Mr. Dumbledore, I think you missed something."

"Huh?" As he felt the surroundings, he realised the magic had faded. While he was unconscious, Harry had actually broken the magic.

"Glad to see that you realise it," Harry smirked and held up Dumbledore's wand, "We even removed it. Sorry, but we had to be sure, rather than feel sorry later. We even destroyed the portrait of your predecessor and replaced it with a fake, so that Tommy Boy gets very...substantial misinformation every time he tries to tap into the connection. This might prove quite advantageous later."

Dumbledore's head was spinning as he made the magical vow. As the teens departed, he collapsed in his chair. He muttered to himself, "Well, I must be truly getting old." Turning to Fawkes, he asked, "Do you know the remedy, my friend?"

Seeing that Fawkes chose not to answer, he smiled to himself, "I must finally try out the raspberry flavoured lemon drops."

**A/N: So, how was it? I think I made sufficient progress and managed to keep you engaged throughout the chapter. This is how I see Harry behaving if he uses his intelligence. He wasn't too violent, but who knows what the future holds...**

**What do you think of the new prophecy? Truly, the poem took me a long time to come up with and even then, I feel it sucks. Anyway, review and tell me what you think.**


	4. Have I Got A Deal For You?

**Disclaimer: "What? If I don't have XX chromosomes, I can't be JK Rowling?" "Science says so." "Damn. Well, you're right. I don't own Harry Potter in any shape or form. Now on with the story..."**

**Chapter 4: Have I Got A Deal For You?**

"How are you, Minister?"

Cornelius Ostwald Fudge, The Minister of Magic, would have liked to reply, "Very well, Thank you", when reality set in and he literally jumped in his chair. In front of him, a disembodied voice had greeted him, but he couldn't see anyone! Of course, that wasn't a rare event in the magical world, but his room was supposed to prevent anyone, save him, from performing magic. It was a privilege of every Minister of Magic; and people wondered why they weren't assassinated.

"Who are you? Show yourself." Fudge nervously called out, trying to steady his nerves.

"No need to get hasty, Minister." The cool voice replied and the profile of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, came into view, followed closely by another kid who looked close to his age. He had a remarkably stoic and detached expression on his face as he coolly took in the surroundings.

"Mr. Potter, what is the meaning of this? Aren't you supposed to be in school right now?"

"I would return, eventually...once we have concluded our business with you."

"What business?"

Harry tapped his chin, thoughtfully, "You see, in the short time I have been in this world, the Ministry has never seemed exemplary to me. I can count three separate instances when the Ministry has failed to do the assigned job; one, when Rubeus Hagrid was wrongly imprisoned in my second year. Rumour had it that it was done solely so that The Ministry was 'got to be seen to be doing something'." Harry smirked as Fudge paled at the words, which incidentally, were almost the ones he himself had spoken. "Then you have Dementors being placed in Hogwarts. They were there for my safety? Sure, but they came much closer to killing me than Sirius Black ever could. Finally, take the beginning of this year; the Quidditch World Cup, which is an international tournament to boot, was disrupted by rampant Death Eater attacks. Honestly, they went rampaging about, torturing helpless muggles, and the Ministry couldn't do anything."

Fudge was growing irritated and restless on hearing these accusations, which were true to every word. "That's correct, Mr. Potter, but what point do you want to make here? All of us can agree that those events were dishonourable, but there's nothing to be done about that now."

"Well, that's true. But you see, with these events continuing, I became concerned for my safety. I was pretty sure that the Triwizard Tournament will fuck me up. So, I decided to seek help from the Arch of Hecate. She took pity on my plight and send me a protector...he. Without his help, I would never have made it alive from Voldemort's clutches." Harry pointed to Ben. Now, after dropping the bombshell, he quietly waited for the Minister's reaction.

They had chosen their lies very carefully. The wizards worshipped many deities, but the Greek and Roman goddess of Magic, Hecate, wasn't very common among them. However, she was known as the only goddess who decided to help out mortals by sending her emissaries, if the need was truly dire. They needed the Ministry's cooperation to help them take the war to Voldemort before he could gather his forces, but Minister Fudge could be a major obstacle. They had heard from Dumbledore how he had ordered Barty Crouch Jr. to be kissed before he could reveal anything further. It was obvious that he would try to deny the return of Voldemort; he had gotten used to an era of peace, and unlikely to be as active at war front if the need arrived. They didn't plan that far ahead, though, and decided that at present, it was necessary to bring the true situation to before his eyes. Since they still had the element of surprise with them, they planned on presenting Ben as the assister; okay, Ben insisted on being called as a 'Artisgyne'. Now, with that goal in mind, they were present at their destination. They couldn't rest, lest Ben's identity become more established.

As expected, Fudge blustered, "That's a lie. The goddess can't possibly send help to you; that hasn't happened in over a thousand years. And You-Know-Who has not returned. Stop spreading these lies."

"You are wrong on both counts, Minister." The other boy spoke up, making him shudder a bit at the coldness with which it was spoken. "If I am not a Artisgyne, explain how I can do magic? How can I do this?" Before his disbelieving eyes, the boy's hand passed through his desk like air, as it started to freeze up. "Or this?" He briefly seemed to touch his chest and his eyes seemed to flash green, before his hand was covered with flames, merrily dancing. He extinguished them and looked straight in his eyes, "Make no mistake, mortal...my appearance leads to unwise assumptions." For a brief second, his features twisted to an ancient visage, but it was gone in a flash. "Or, perhaps you can explain why Harry Potter is able to perform magic in this room?" Fudge had no response for these questions.

Of course, the magic of Harry's invisibility cloak wasn't limited by the inhibitors in that room. It was a deathly Hallow after all, the true cloak of invisibility and something that could defy death itself. No ordinary magic could hope to prevent that; this knowledge had also recently been implanted in Harry's mind, but Fudge didn't know that.

Slowly, Fudge seemed to come to a conclusion. He spoke, "Very well, Mr. Potter. I hear your words, and I fear they might indeed be the truth. But, please, explain: how did you get the attention of the goddess? Why would she help you?"

"Ah, you see, I have a small responsibility in my hands, which just affects the whole wizarding population of the British Isles. There is a prophecy, which says only I can kill Voldemort." Harry raised his hand to stop any protest of Fudge, "It's in the Department of Mysteries, in this very building. I wish you to observe it, and then come to a conclusion."

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"You truly were right." Came the bedraggled voice of the Minister...no, a man who suddenly seemed to age years. "It does...say so." They had marched out into the Department of Mysteries and along with the head Unspeakable, heard the prophecy who had confirmed its validity. It had finally allowed some seeds of doubt to enter the Minister's mind. He looked desperate, "So, it's true? You-Know-Who has truly returned from dead?"

"I doubt that even I could lie under the effects of Veritaserum, Minister Fudge." Harry retorted coldly. He had even consumed the potion, although a minor wasn't supposed to be exposed to it under any circumstances.

"No, no of course not. But you see, Mr. Potter, this leaves us in a very bad situation. The DMLE has not received appropriate budget since after the war years; our economy was so depressed, that we had to divert our resources. There hasn't been any good new recruit recently. The control of resources largely lies in the hands of the nobles, who have never really supported the Ministry in times like this. They will always try to preserve their own ways and traditions. What can we do?"

Ben was feeling a bit disgusted by this spectacle; honestly, he had seen his grandfather at sixty years of age, take on Vilgax, the most feared warlord in five galaxies, fight a powerful Cyborg and perform so many exemplary deeds, and a man who was supposed to be the face of the wizardkind was present in front of him looking like a broken man? That won't do. He started again, "You can start by growing a backbone."

"What?" He looked faintly insulted.

"By becoming more assertive, Minister. Do you not control the state of affairs? Are you not the Head of the State? You have more powers than you realise. Voldemort is still terribly underprepared. If you start preparations early, he will find the war much different than the one in 1970s."

Harry took over, "I have a question for you...What purpose do the Unspeakables serve in the Ministry, anyway?"

"Uh...they try to decipher the mysteries in different branches of magic."

"Why don't you put them into the front lines, and ask them to take an active role? I know that they are semi-autonomous, but I doubt they would object too much. The knowledge they can provide is sorely needed. If you couldn't get people to pass the Auror Course, turn them into warriors-Hit Wizards-Mercenaries-whatever you prefer. I know for sure that these have been done earlier. Put more people in spell crafting or practical aspects of magic; it would increase vacancies. I seem to remember reading a report saying that one of Britain's primary sources of economy was trading in Herbs and Potions; why don't you tweak the OWL and NEWT syllabus a bit to enlist the help of students in growing plants that can be valuable foreign exchange earners? There are so many things you can do."

"They don't seem to be the words of a twelve year old boy, Mr. Potter."

"Fourteen; almost fifteen." Harry immediately corrected; honestly, why did Skeeter regress his age in her articles anyway? Then he noticed the new arrival; Amelia Bones, the current Head of the DMLE. Tom Riddle remembered her vividly; at that time, she was a junior Auror, and pretty ruthless in a battle and a cool investigator. She had also been one of the powerhouses who Voldemort had been unable to recruit in his ranks, despite her being a pure-blood. Harry knew she could be a great ally, but he must be much more cautious around her. He curtseyed, "Welcome, Madam Bones."

"Ah, yes, Amelia, do take a seat." Fudge was back to his eloquent self for a while, but then dropped back to his sombre mood, "So, you received my flier, then?"

"Came as fast as I could."

"Very well. Then, we can probably discuss a planned course of action." Fudge responded.

Seeing Amelia's gaze turning in to look at him, Ben responded, "Well, I'll be outside." He stepped out and came right back in, smirking in invisible form. He had said outside; that is, outside their field of vision. Hr wasn't going to miss this conversation! As it went on, he was surprised by the change in Fudge's posture; he just sat a little bit straighter, and sturdier. It wasn't much, but it could eventually result in a changed man. He was a bit surprised when Harry told the Officials about Dumbledore's vigilante group, the Order of Phoenix. However, his motives were clear; he wanted to volunteer a secret, which would eventually come to light, while giving an impression of trust and friendliness. It was the only way a deal was made. Ben smirked; Harry, in this new avatar, almost reminded him of Argit, only much more dangerous and composed.

Finally, they both took their leave. As soon as they were outside, Ben ripped off the ID mask out of his face and cursed, "I'm not going through that again." Honestly, an ID mask could conceal his features while he was transformed and make him look human, but the compressions, elongations and disturbances in his molecular alignment were truly painful. It was necessary to give the impression that he could perform magic, too, but really the pain was a killer. Plus, absorbing the ward energies outside Fudge's room as Chromastone, while not turning into his true form, took a toll on him. Harry patted him on the back, sympathetically, while trying to suppress a smirk. He was a bit peeved, and worried though; because, the prophecy sphere was not yet darkened, contrary to Dumbledore's assumption.

It meant; he truly had a long way to go. Honestly, why couldn't he get a "Troy will not fall unless..." prophecies?

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"So, we are going to do this today, huh?" Ben questioned, while irritatingly snapping a twig. "I am feeling tired, you know. Not everybody has a metabolism which solely runs on magic."

"Oh come on, don't be like that. Are you sure that you saved the whole world from being killed by a group of racist aliens?" Harry joked. "Besides, this is for Luna only; I don't know why she gave you such a poor riddle. Not becoming of a Ravenclaw, I'd certainly say."

"Ha-ha. Well, I didn't know that the Potter family motto stated, 'the ones who are favoured with valour', okay? I thought it'd be some weird stuff about magic."

"You're here." Suddenly, the dreamy voice of Luna greeted the duo, causing Ben to yelp in a girlish manner. How had she snuck up on them?

"Luna." Harry greeted her, and then suddenly frowned. There was something different about her; granted, she always stuck him as an odd, but good friend, but something was different; something he hadn't noticed until then. Suddenly he gasped in recognition, "You are a Scheryeder."

"You mean...she can see the future?" Ben gasped too.

"Not accurate, Ben Tennyson." She turned to look at him, "I am but one of the few that are touched by Janus. I can see only crossroads; choices and consequences. I cannot interfere, for if I do, the results are...much more chaotic."

Harry wasn't sure why Luna was suddenly speaking about all these, but her last words were so choked with pain that it gave him pause. It was not a statement, but an expression of pain. Suddenly, a conversation he earlier had with her came to the forefront of his mind. Making a wild guess, he stated, "Your mother..."

"Yes. I-I stopped her from going to an assignment in Puerto Rico; it would have resulted in breaking her leg. She-she stayed, and t-tried to experiment with the new spell; the same which killed her." She whispered, "I-I just gave up after that. I couldn't help but read the future of people I'm close to, and the indecisiveness I always felt was slowly killing me. I just couldn't forget what happened to my mother. I grieved a lot, but I slowly got over it. But, I didn't think I would be able to withstand something like that again. I kind of invented a whole new persona, a weird outlook, which prevented anyone from coming too close to me. It worked very well...almost too well. It has been so integrated into me that I honestly feel it is a part of me now. I-I..." She was fully choking up sobs now, probably unsure how to phrase her next words, when Ben surprised her by pulling her into a deep hug. He was a mere onlooker until now as he really didn't have any knowledge of her past, but he could fully understand the pain she must be suffering. Losing a family member, especially through your own faults, is never easy. When Vilgax had invaded his home and kidnapped his mom and almost killed his Dad, he had felt the world crashing around him. It was the closest he had ever come to giving up. It had made him think seriously about what was he doing; was having the ultimate power worth losing a loved one? What was the benefit of winning a war, if you couldn't live with yourself after it? He refused to let Luna go into any depression; and, as Gwen had once told him, "A hug always makes things so much better", he was sure to comply. She hadn't led him astray, yet. As he held her, her sobs slowly subsided. She untangled herself and looked up gratefully. "Thank you", she whispered softly, "I needed it."

Harry looked on at the scene with a smile. He had always felt a weird connection to Luna; they had faced many similar circumstances in school. That had given him a sharp desire to protect her and to not let any sorrow linger near her. He was a bit unsure how to react at the changed circumstances; even if he was a new person, neither Tom Riddle or Harry Potter dealt too nicely with emotions. Both of them had been starved off affection their entire life, after all. However, he was grateful that Ben...nay, his brother had been able to help Luna out.

Harry cleared his throat, awkwardly, "Luna...I am sorry to burden you with my curiosity, but why exactly did you call us here?"

"Because; you two don't have any future."

"WHAT?" This time, Ben's girlish yelp was joined by Harry's. Neither of them liked to die, thank you very much. Ben started muttering, "I am so brave, strong, handsome, charming, intelligent and not to mention, famous. I can't die so soon!"

"I didn't mean it like that." Luna clarified with a smile tugging at her lips at the duo's antics, "You two have no future, but destiny."

"There's a difference?"

"Oh yes. You see, I know about the Prophecy too." Ignoring Harry's muttering about it being an 'open secret', she continued, "True prophecy, and hence destiny, can never truly be altered. However, the road to achieve the goal may differ. I-I believe that I can help you both in your quest. I can't lead you too astray, anyway. It can be my salvation. If I can help you save so many people, I finally might leave my past behind me." She smiled bitterly, "Janus chooses his vessels for a reason. This might be mine. If I can help you, maybe I will be free of my 'gift'. So, I will help...if you want."

"You are always welcome, Luna. With the approaching darkness, we'll need all the help we could need. Besides, having someone so smart and helpful as you can only be a bonus." Harry confirmed with a smile.

"Not to mention pretty." Ben muttered, and turned a bit red. Yeah, that hadn't happened since he had seen Kai.

Luna now turned to look at Ben with a raised eyebrow. "Ben Tennyson", she asked with a raised eyebrow, "Are you experiencing sexual frustration?"

"WHAT?"

_For a moment, Ben's mind wandered back to the events earlier that day. Before leaving for the Ministry, he had been accosted in the hall by the beautiful French Champion, Fleur Delacour, who supposedly wasn't completely human herself. She had tried to interrogate him about his mysterious appearance and whereabouts, and had also tried to use her 'allure' or something like that on her. Thanks to the mind meld with Harry, Ben was now almost completely immune to such mental attacks; add to that his already formidable mental strength; he, after all, had kept Ghostfreak at bay for a very long time. He had brushed off that attempt, and she had profusely apologised. It was kind of instinctive for her, to try and get the easy way out. However, the attack wasn't completely mental, after all; it was pheromonal and hormonal. Yep, Ben had felt quite agitated after that, and he would need a quite place later on, but to be questioned in such a direct manner..._

"Err, yeah, that is to say..." He was fumbling about for his words, when suddenly Luna's lips were pressed on his. His eyes widened in shock, but his body sure responded positively. The feeling was intense, and amazing. He felt like he was floating in the sky. Luna pulled back and again with a giggle and slight blush, disappeared into the forest. She had taken care of his problem!

Harry was left as shell-shocked as Ben, and asked aloud, "What the hell was that?"

"Soft." Was Ben's only reply, as he still grinned like an idiot.

Harry shook his head softly. This was a truly a whirlwind day; it made his previous escapades seem normal. But first, he had to return to his four-poster bed. Even he could tire, after all. Threatening Ben about Luna would just have to wait...until his brain came out of vapour lock state, anyway.

**A/N: Another chapter down. Now, with the rush getting over with, the story will settle into a more reasonable pace. There will be a bit of fluff next chapter, and more Ben/Luna interactions. Her motivations will be explained shortly. I want to build a connecting story, not make a mess.**

**A reviewer complained that I am glossing over stuff by writing, 'they made many plans', but not revealing them. Well, that would spoil the surprise, won't it? And I really doubt you'd want to read them. They're boring as hell when just presented in that format. Rest assured, any twist will be foreshadowed.**

**Can anybody trace Ben's quote about him being handsome, charming and all that? Happy reading.**


	5. The Transmogrification of Eunice

**Disclaimer: Go left...now bend right. Peer closer to the monitor and exhale deeply.**

**Did you know that you have just performed a very rare, unknown, difficult and obscure magical ritual? Something which would allow you a gateway to an AU Potterverse, even though neither you nor I own Harry Potter? (J. K. Rowling just doesn't want to share) So, enjoy the story.**

**Chapter 5: The Transmogrification of Eunice...Err, Luna**

Ben tossed and turned in the unfamiliar cot in an unfamiliar part of the Castle. Yeah, he had been captured a few times by the Forever Knights in the past, but they didn't or rather, couldn't make him stay the night in their castles. But now, he couldn't sleep. The exhaustion his body was suffering from suggested that he would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillows, but it was not to be.

The thoughts and memories he had pushed aside were rushing back to him. What was happening in his home world right now? How was Gwen, Grandpa, Kevin and others? Were they looking for him? Were they as worried as he was? He couldn't help but be afraid for the possibility that Vilgax could make his move on Earth now and without him, there would be no effective resistance. Gwen and Kevin were powerful, but they were just not...him. The Hybrids were gone, but couldn't one of them reappear? What about his mom and dad? The questions were endless, and there was no one present to answer. With these thoughts troubling his brain, he had never noticed when he had left his bed and strolled into the Castle Corridors, and was honestly surprised to hear a voice remark, "Having trouble sleeping, Benjamin?"

His first instinct was that it was Luna again, but the man was definitely not she. Ben found himself smiling as he came face to face with a familiar figure, Professor Paradox-an insane genius who had been thrown into the time stream due to an error in his experiment time travel experiments with quartz crystals. He spent a few millennia trapped there and managed to completely understand the intricacies of time, something which allowed him to escape. Now, he usually spent his time fixing up massive errors in the timeline in all places within the universe and also assisted Ben's team, but only in times of absolute crisis. The reason was pretty simple; every time he fiddled with time, the fabric of reality in the nearby area was stretched thin. Ben had a degree of protection due to the Omnitrix and possession of alien forms who too could manipulate time, but too much 'help' would not really suit him.

"Hello, Professor. Didn't expect to see you here." He exclaimed, pleased.

He smiled, "Circumstances make extra-ordinary events look natural, and vice-versa."

"Um...right. So, why are you here again? And how could you find me? Can you provide me a way back?" Ben asked, excitedly.

"If you truly wished to return home, Ben, I doubt anything could have stopped you."

"Hey, that's not fair! I do wish to return..." Here Ben paused, uncertain. Didn't he miss his normal life? Didn't he yearn for it to return?

In retrospect, it was easy to note how much of his life had changed. He was in a different world, had new acquaintances and did not find the culture or lifestyle really suiting him. Here, he was supposed to risk his life for a cause with which he couldn't relate. Yet, some things were here which bound him to this reality; a brother in Harry and even more, his own hero complex. He had never stood back when he could save someone. He remembered that time when Hex had captured the five Charms of Bezel and he had tried to stop him on an alien hover board. That memory made him smile. Probably, the situation was not as bad as it looked, especially if he could help fix it. If he could do something right and use his powers for good, he would do that for sure! And, now he realised just why the Professor might have come to visit him; to help him sort out his feelings before he did something stupid and drastic.

"I guess you saw twenty-two different realities where I left this world and it was destroyed?" Ben asked in a droll voice.

Professor Paradox chuckled, "Thirty-seven different ones, actually. But, even with you here, things might turn bad very soon. There are powers here which even you can't fight. So, I talked with Azmuth and he agreed to help you out...like this." He quickly put his hand over the Omnitrix as it glowed green and stated, "_New genetic sample received and confirmed stable. Use possible in exceptional circumstances_."

"Whoa, what did you do? Did I just gain another alien?"

"Yep, I just added something more to your collection." Before Ben could question him further, he explained with a smirk, "Can't tell you more...it would mean spoilers." Ben glared at the time-traveller, but he knew that the other won't budge. He sighed, "Well, give me some clue as to what might happen in the immediate future?"

"Hmm...Well, I believe that you might find something interesting if you travel to the Forest again, right now. Ta-ta." With a cheery wave, he disappeared again.

Ben found himself following the directions, but before he had ventured far into the forest, the sight of a few gruesome creatures made him stop instantly. What the hell were THOSE creatures? It looked like some kind of horse, but with great leathery wings like those of bats and a reptilian face. He knew that he probably ought to recognize them, but his transferred memories were just a bit shaky at times.

"They are called Thestrals, and they can only be viewed by someone who has viewed death." This time, it was definitely Luna, again out of the blue. Ben watched her, a bit worried; why was she not wearing any shoes? Didn't she feel cold?

"Why are you not wearing any shoes?" He asked.

"I like to see that you ask whatever comes to your mind." She nodded appreciatively, "A good trait".

Ben opened his mouth to comment on the oddity of her statement, but snapped it shut. No matter how their previous conversation had turned out, he realised that she was still unsure about her current state; she was still undecided about forming any kind of friendship or to ask for help. If she wanted to talk, she would do so by herself. He just stood back and watched as she fed the Thestrals with pieces of raw meat. The soft, shiny and new light rays of dawn fell on her cascading silver blonde hair, almost gifting her with a soft glow around herself. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, and she was..._Luna_.

His patience paid off as he learned about the people in her house who took away her stuff and bullied her due to her being a social misfit. It made his blood boil; they were easily worse than Cash and J.T., who at least stopped picking on people after the Techadon Gauntlet incident. He resolved to do something about it, possibly with the help of Harry. Then, in all his infinite wisdom, he challenged Luna to a race on Thestrals. He managed to last fifteen seconds before losing his grip on his own, falling down and transforming into Jet Ray to save his...umm, you know what. Then, when they landed, he found Luna looking pretty flustered.

"Hey, are you alright?" He questioned.

"Yes, just feeling a bit warm after the race."

"If you are feeling hot..." he smirked and dialled in his Necrofriggian form, "Big Chill knows just how to cool you down." Pretty soon, there were snowflakes floating down from the sky and Ben had to part with his jacket to protect the glaring witch from the sudden cold. He wasn't being noble, but smart and following his dad's example. In hindsight, that wasn't the best idea to try in Scotland, but he could bet that the same move would have been appreciated in Bellwood by a Kraaho girl or someone like that.

They then took a short stroll through the forest and met up with the resident Centaur Clan. Ben was pleased to find that the 'Universal Translator' feature on his Omnitrix worked on magical creatures as well as aliens. The Centaurs had a laugh riot when it was revealed that his name was Ben, 'cause apparently one of the surliest Centaurs shared his name. He wasn't amused, and challenged Ben to a fight. He shrugged as both of them went to a secluded location and after a moment, the Centaur came back, bedraggled. Let's just say, it's not smart to engage Spider-Monkey in a forest. They departed from the clearing with smiles adorning the faces of people from both sides. Ben couldn't resist trying out this feature on as many species as possible, though, and even had a pleasant conversation with the Mermen present in the lake.

As they tracked their feet towards the Castle, Luna asked in a sultry tone, "Ben, do you know my ambition?"

"Err...No?" That tone was a bit distracting, to say the least.

"To become a naturalist and study as many species of magical creatures as possible. And I must say, your powers are sorely tempting...I might just kidnap and keep you after all." He would have taken offense to that remark, but the small smile she sported let him know that she was joking.

Ben wasn't sure what was happening between him and Luna yet, but he decided that it did feel good...and he had no intention of giving it up. He decided to just see where it goes from there on as he remembered one of Grandpa's favourite sayings: _'Life is just like a water droplet on a Lotus petal, so you must make the most of it while you can_'.

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Hermione Granger did not find waking up at 5 a.m. particularly suitable to her tastes. Nor was she too pleased to note that the floor of her dorm room had been strewed over with small flowers, the same ones someone had been pelting her with from quite some time. They looked kinda pretty though, and had a nice, fragrant smell...

She absent-mindedly caught the next flowery missile and turned to look at an unexpected sight. The window was open, and her best friend (and your crush, her inner voice reminded her) Harry Potter was floating outside it with the help of his Firebolt. That was particularly unusual, but the fact that weirded her out more was that he was conjuring-yes, conjuring those flowers he had been pelting at her, but that skill was taught only to the seventh years!

"Harry James Potter", she glared at him, "Would you explain what you are doing?"

"Erm...Waking you up?" He answered, stating the obvious fact.

"In this way?" She asked dryly.

"Uh, I would have climbed a pipe, but they are not present in Hogwarts, and I don't like the idea of scaling the walls." He answered with a sly grin.

"Why, exactly?" She was a tad bit worried. Harry was just not acting like himself today. She had not seen him after he had left the Hospital Wing with that other boy, and she found this change pretty disconcerting.

"Err, never mind. But I do have something to ask of you. Do you trust me?" Asking this, Harry stared straight at her, and suddenly she found herself breathless and staring into those wonderfully expressive green eyes. They were so kind and caring, but had a certain hardness to them, something she hadn't noticed before...as if Harry now understood certain harsh truths of life. He could now take actions, which despite being hard for him, were the right ones. Moreover, they pulsated with an inner power, which seemed to draw her in and captivate her. She found that she somewhat...liked it.

"Of course I trust you Harry", she gave an honest answer.

"Thank You. Please meet me on the fifth floor right now." Saying this, he sped off while muttering something about 'Useless books, worthless advices and stupid movies'.

And, so Hermione found herself on the aforementioned location, beside the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, but she was more shocked to see a doorway beside it. Then she found Harry leading her into it and she had to gasp. It was set up just like the great hall on the night of the Yule Ball! He explained that it was known Room of Requirement, a room whose magic modified it to become whatever the user wished it to be. It was a remarkable piece of magic, certainly.

She found herself asking why he was doing this for her, and he replied, "To make up for all my faults over the years." He then gave that adorable lopsided grin and spoke, "I wouldn't have survived this year, and the blasted Tournament without your help. You have always stood by my side, and I feel that I have never reciprocated the same level of friendship." He paused, "Ron spoiled the entire Yule Ball for you, and I didn't even try to stop or correct him. It was my duty as your friend, and I totally failed at it. Today, our Fourth Year ends and I won't see you again for an entire summer, so I do think that it is time I make a proper apology and make it up to you. As a very poor compensation, I would try to recreate that magic for you once more in this room. Hermione Jean Granger, will you honour me by sharing a dance with me?"

And so they danced, with a passion that defied belief. They weren't clumsy, but perfectly in tune with each other. The magic was truly back, more so since both of them were with the partners they truly preferred. And, when the dance ended, they found out that they didn't mind kissing each other, either. Their friendship was forged in the fire of adversity and now it shone with full radiance, while both of them hoped that it could lead to something more in future. For the current moment, they were pretty content to call each other 'Boyfriend' and 'Girlfriend', and kiss some more, of course. Harry was grinning as he realised that his life might not suck so much, after all.

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The most feared Dark Lord in recent history sat in an ornate throne with his loyal servants, the Death Eaters attending him. He was in a thoughtful mood; things weren't as good as he would have liked. Many of his more resourceful and stronger warriors were imprisoned in Azkaban, and to think of these new developments, especially that of the new boy, was troubling. But the most troubling news he had received was not that.

Barty Crouch Jr. had really come through for him. Not only he had managed to send the Potter boy to him, but he had also helped in the capture of another person-someone who could very well have known the reasons for his first downfall. In the rush about searching for Harry Potter, even the great Albus Dumbledore had faltered, and his spy had faced no difficulties in portkeying another person to him and allowing him to have a great advantage in the upcoming war. The Divination Professor of Hogwarts, Sybill Trelawney had been captured and brought before him, and a combined use of Veritaserum and skilful Legilimency had allowed Voldemort to pick the knowledge of the prophecy she had made to Dumbledore years ago, right out of her head-even if she herself had forgotten about it. He now knew the only person who could kill him was not Dumbledore, as he had feared, but the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, himself.

"My Lord, the goblins have finished with all the layers of the enchantment and are now waiting for you to cast the final spell." Lucius bowed in front of him as he smiled with pleasure. Dumbledore had almost bested him with the use of the Fidelius Charm many years ago, but now it would come to his own advantage. He had no intention of making anyone else the secret keeper of his hideout, either. It had been difficult to come in possession of that piece of knowledge, but his brief stint in Hogwarts while possessing Quirell did come useful in this occasion.

"Tell them to wait up for a moment." He commanded, and turned to one person he was most conflicted about: his spy in Dumbledore's ranks, Severus Snape. He was very unsure about trusting this man; after all, Dumbledore had saved from prison and kept him under his wing for fourteen years and it was hard to believe that he could hide his true motives for so long. Even if he hated Dumbledore, he had to admit that HE was powerful! Besides, what could Severus possibly gain by joining him? He had a comfortable life and recognition, the craving of which had led Severus to join him in the first place. Was a mere schoolboy grudge good enough to satisfy his return to the ranks of Death Eaters? All things considered, he should not be allowed to live for another second.

Yet, he knew that for all his faults, Snape was a premier Potions Master and his talents would be invaluable to the side which he chose to support. Wasting that talent would be a fool's decision, and he was no fool. Turning to him, he commanded in a silky voice, "I have been considering your request, Severus, and I must say I don't find you very trustworthy at the moment. Still, if you have managed to stay loyal to the cause for so many years, like a true Slytherin, you must be rewarded above all others. Tell me, how far are you willing to go to prove your loyalties?"

Snape stated in a firm voice, "Whatever trial you may conduct to ascertain my loyalty, my Lord, I am ready to undergo."

"Very...well. So, perhaps you won't mind if I ask you to swear an Unbreakable Vow to never betray my secrets to Dumbledore and always remain personally loyal to me?" This was the nexus. Any hesitation, any indecision, and Voldemort would know the side Snape had picked. Surprising him, Snape's lips curled into a cruel smirk, "If that is what my Lord desires, I would gladly swear such an oath."

Lord Voldemort instructed Avery to act as the binder as he spoke, "_Severus Tobias Snape, do you hereby take an oath to never betray me or reveal my secrets to Dumbledore_?"

"_I do_." He proclaimed. A thin chain of magic linked the hands of Voldemort and Severus Snape.

"_Do you swear to perform any duty bestowed upon you by me to the best of your ability?_"

"_I do_." The chain grew brighter.

"_Do you swear that all your prior feelings would be disregarded by you and your loyalty would be solely invested upon me?_"

"_I do_." The magic completed it's work and the glow slowly vanished.

Lord Voldemort nodded, satisfied. That would do for now. He briefly toyed with the idea of keeping Trelawney captive, but the gifts possessed by Seers manifested entirely too randomly, which made them practically unusable during a war. The missing Seer would only make the old fool more agitated, and he knew that the enchantments he had cast to make Dumbledore unaware of her 'Missing' status would not last much longer. So, he decided to send her back with Snape, but not before adding a couple of Loyalty and Subservient Charms; any little prophecy she might utter in future would also be heard by him. Can it be detected by Dumbledore? Possibly, but he was certain that the old wizard won't have that much leisure time when he would start making his moves. Most of the magical world was filled with incompetents anyway, or they would have come up with a way to identify and imprison anyone with a Dark Mark. The symbol can be hidden, but the magic can easily be detected if one knew where to look for it.

Meanwhile, Snape was looking at two little potion vials in his hand and smiling rather maliciously. They contained the 'Draught of Living death', a sleeping potion so potent that it could put the drinker into a heavily enchanted sleep resembling death, kinda like your typical 'Sleeping Beauty'. He would have to wait for his chance, but if his Lord was correct, one day or the other Dumbledore won't be present at the Castle to protect Potter, and then he could make his move easily to capture him. He could only think of the rewards that would be heaped upon him if he succeeded.

The Inner Circle meeting was then set up, prompting Snape to take his leave. That day, quite a few ideas were tossed about and rejected. Voldemort was pleased to realise that his followers were not lacking in the financial department and decided to start controlling the Ministry from the shadows. Few Azkaban guards would be replaced by low ranking Death Eaters, allowing them to map the island prison so that his faithful followers can be liberated later. It can easily be pinned on the blood-traitor Black. Envoys to werewolves, giants and vampires were also sent out. Lucius suggested that it would not be a bad idea to try and control the Muggle government at the same time and Voldemort nodded in approval. The junior Minister, Herbert Choley would be the first person to fall prey to the Imperius Curse during Voldemort's second reign of terror.

**A/N: So, I am back with another chapter. Now we have progressed with Harmony, Luen and the Dark side has also started putting plans into motion. Stuff that had started to occur at the end of OoTP is already happening because this Voldemort doesn't believe much in wasting time; and you must consider, Voldemort now already knows about the prophecy which was the focus of OoTP anyways. This Voldemort is more proactive, shielding his base with the Fidelius Charm and much more untrusting, as he really ought to be. As you might have guessed, quite a few scenes were inspired by the episodes "The Transmogrification of Eunice" and "Hot stretch". Sorry about the lack of action, but it would pick up next chapter. Thanks for reading and reviews and suggestions are always appreciated.**

**Who can guess the unlocked alien? It's up for grabs...**


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